Philippines Sues China to Assert Claim Over Gas-Rich Waters

A China Coast Guard ship, top, and a Philippine supply boat engage in a stand off as the Philippine boat attempts to reach Ayungin Shoal on March 29, 2014. Photographer: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines challenged China’s
claims to much of the South China Sea at a United Nations
tribunal yesterday, seeking to check its neighbor’s push for
control of disputed waters rich in oil, gas and fish.

The Southeast Asian nation asked the UN’s Permanent Court
of Arbitration in The Hague to uphold its right to exploit
waters within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone
under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The
arbitration pleading, almost 4,000 pages long, was submitted
electronically.

“It is about defending what is legitimately ours,”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said at a briefing
in Manila. “It is about guaranteeing freedom of navigation for
all nations. It is about helping preserve regional peace,
security and stability.”

The latest move to contain China comes as President Benigno
Aquino negotiates a defense pact that would let the U.S. boost
its troop presence in the Philippines and build facilities
inside military bases there. The Philippines lacks the military
muscle to thwart China, which has a defense budget 47 times that
of the Philippines. As a U.S. treaty ally, Manila counts on U.S.
support in any potential conflict.

“The case could further heighten tensions and prompt China
to move to shoals claimed by the Philippines,” Ramon Casiple,
executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral
Reform in Manila, said yesterday. “Other claimant nations such
as Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia are watching how this case will
play out.”

The filing met yesterday’s deadline set by the UN tribunal
and came after Chinese vessels a day earlier ordered a civilian
Philippine vessel away from Ayungin Shoal, the second incident
in the area this month.

‘Just and Durable’

“It is about seeking not just any kind of resolution but a
just and durable solution grounded in international law,” del
Rosario said yesterday.

Eighty-two percent of Filipinos support the arbitration
case against China and 93 percent said the government should
defend its territory through lawful means, the foreign affairs
department said last month, citing a state-commissioned poll.

Aggression is “contrary to good order” and the U.S. has
an obligation to help the Philippines in case of conflict,
Admiral Jonathan Greenert, U.S. Navy chief of naval operations,
said at a forum in Manila in February. The U.S. strongly
supports “legal, peaceful and diplomatic solutions to claims
and conduct” in the South China Sea, Ambassador Philip Goldberg
said today in a posting on Twitter.

The Philippines first brought the sea dispute with China to
the arbitration tribunal in January last year, saying it had
exhausted political and diplomatic avenues to resolve the case.

‘Right Track’

China cannot accept the international arbitration sought by
the Philippines, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said
yesterday in a statement on the ministry’s website. The
Philippines occupies some islands in the South China Sea
“illegally,” Hong said.

The Philippines should be on the “right track” of using
bilateral talks to resolve territorial disputes, Hong said in
the statement.

Chinese ships used water cannons in January to drive
Filipino fishermen away from the Scarborough Shoal, the
Philippine military said on Feb. 24. China warned off two
Philippine boats near the Second Thomas Shoal early this month,
its Foreign Ministry said on March 10.

“China’s refusal to join the arbitration will cost it both
from a legal standpoint and public-opinion view,” Casiple said.
“It will be viewed by the global community as a rogue state
that doesn’t recognize international law.”

The Philippines amended its arbitration filing last month
to include Ayungin Shoal, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza
said in the briefing yesterday.